When God Is Silent: 5 Practical Things You Can Do

In this article, we will explore 5 practical things you can do when God is silent. Seasons that are dry or hard happen to all Christians sooner or later. It’s how we navigate these season will determine how much we grow and mature in the Lord. So, grab your Bible and an open heart, and let’s get started…

We always assume that we will hear God all the time. But you find that God will be silent at times and sometimes even for seasons. This can be very unsettling and hard. There is nothing we miss more than the voice of God when we need an answer or need His wisdom or comfort. Many times we don’t understand why God is silent and this makes us worry and become anxious. Our mind starts thinking of what could be the cause…but I want to encourage you today that no matter the reason you will make it through.

Why is God Silent Sometimes?

“In the silence of the heart, God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”

Mother Teresa

I want to touch base on 4 different reasons why God may be silent in your life.

1. Sin In Your Life

When King Saul sinned against God, he could no longer hear Him speak. When Saul inquired of the Lord, he did not receive an answer. Instead of Saul repenting and seeking God, he went to look for a medium to tell him what he wanted to know.

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. ⁶ He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. ⁷ Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” – 1 Samuel 28:5-7

2. His Perfect Timing

Sometimes God waits to respond to us in His time. This is not because we have sinned. Job lost everything but we see God speaking to him much later after his friends had given him their advice (Job 38:1).

3. Seasons in the Wilderness

The first time I ever went through a spiritual wilderness season….I was devastated. I couldn’t hear from the Lord and it was hard to get into His presence. I checked my heart a million times to see if I had sinned or did something wrong. With time, reading the Word, and speaking with mature I realized this this was just a season.

I had viewed it as a painful season, but God soon showed me it was a season of pursuit. How badly would I keep pressing in if I heard or felt nothing? Would I give up easily? The point of the wilderness is not because it’s dry but because it produces intimacy and maturity. Much like what we read in Song of Solomon.

Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved? She Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth. –  Song of Solomon 8:5

4. Our Prayers are Outside of God’s Will for Us.

1 John 5:14-15 tells us that if we ask God for anything according to His will, He hears us and gives us an answer. This means that when our prayers are outside God’s will, we may not get an answer or an answer that we don’t want. I have prayed for things and God has been silent. Only to find out with time it was not what God had for me. But there have been times I have prayed for the things and Lord speaks to my heart that this is not what He has for me.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. – 1 John 5:14-15

Below Are 5 Things We Can Do When God Is Silent

1.   Get in the Word of God

When we don’t hear God speak to us, we can read and meditate on His Word. The answers we are looking for are in the Bible. God has given us promises in His Word, and we can claim them for ourselves. You can encourage yourself with verses that talk about God being silent. There are many who struggled with God’s silence, and they kept hoping that He would speak.

King David experienced God’s silence and wrote about it. “To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 28:1).

A story like the one of King David will encourage you because he also has experienced silence from the Lord. But he patiently waited for God to speak to Him. Encourage yourself with God’s Word and be patient. If there is a reason why God is silent, He will show you in His Word.

2.   Trust that God will speak to you

God will speak to you, and sometimes you have to patiently wait for Him to do so. Put your trust in Him and know that in His time, He will answer you. Job went through suffering and God did not speak to him immediately things went south in his life. God spoke to him later (Job 38:1) and even restored everything He had lost.

The period when we don’t hear from God can test our faith. It is a time when doubts begin to creep in and make us think that God does not care. This is the time when you need to think thoughts that fill you with faith so that you don’t give up on hearing from God. He will come through for you in the end.

3.   Spend More Time In Pray

When you don’t hear from God, pray and pour out your heart to Him. Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

Although God seems silent, continue to pray and tell Him what is in your heart. Get into His presence. I encourage you to be patient during this time. Don’t rely on other sources to replace God’s voice, like King Saul.

One promise we have from the Bible about prayer is that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Instead of becoming anxious because we are not hearing from God, we can still pray to Him and trust that He will answer us.

4.   Start Praising and Worshipping

Listening to praise and worship music will uplift you and encourage you as you wait on God. Songs touch the deepest parts of our souls and nourish our spirits.

Music will remind you that God still cares and will never abandon you. King David composed a song relating to God’s silence. “My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent” (Psalm 109:1). We know that it is a song because it is addressed to the director of music.

You may be surprised that during praise and worship, you hear God’s voice. And this is because we enter His gates with thanksgiving and His Curts with praise… (Psalm 100:4)

5.   Talk to a Trusted Godly Friend

As we fellowship with our friends who are believers, we can let them know that we feel like God is silent. You will find that your friends will give you a different perspective of the issue at hand, and you may walk away with a solution. It may be something you need to do or a Scripture you can meditate on.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.” A friend may help you recognize God’s answer when you were not seeing it. We walk this journey of salvation with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ so that we can grow in our faith.

It’s common to hear a friend or fellow believer tell you that they have a word from the Lord for you. Such a word may shed light on your situation, encourage you, and point you in the right direction.

The Silence of God

When you feel that God is silent, explore the reasons why He may not be speaking or that you are having a hard time hearing spiritually. That way, you will have an idea of what to do instead of getting frustrated or looking for answers in the wrong place.

And if it is just a season, I wholeheartedly encourage you to embrace what God is doing in your life. God always does things with a purpose, and you can trust that you will hear from Him at the right time.

Take on these 5 practical ways to help with the silence and find rest and peace in Him. Feel free to leave me a comment as I would LOVE to hear from my readers. And don’t forget to check out my other Christian Articles!